Xi’s Remarks on GMO Signal Caution

A worker transport packs of rice at a market in Hefei, Anhui. It is recently discovered that GMO rice has been illegally sold in central China.

Reuters

Recently published remarks by President Xi Jinping on genetically modified food have renewed debate on whether China should be more accepting of GMO crops. But scientists and analysts say Mr. Xi’s comments are more a reiteration of Beijing’s cautious embrace of biotechnology than a signal for looser GMO restrictions.

Mr. Xi’s comments were published by the Communist Party’s Literature Research Office in late September in a compendium of his pronouncements on a wide range of policy matters. Local media picked up on a seven-sentence excerpt in the 70-page document in which Mr. Xi addressed the GMO issue at China’s central rural work conference, a key agricultural policy conclave, in late December.

“When we talk about the quality and safety of agricultural products, there’s one question that must be mentioned, which is the GMO question,” the president said. “GMO is a new technology, but also a new industry, and has broad prospects for development. As a new item, society has debates and doubts on GMO techniques, which is normal. On this issue, I have to emphasize two points: First is to ensure safety, second is to innovate by ourselves. Which is to say, we must be bold in studying it, [but] be cautious in promoting it. Industrial production of GMOs and commercialization must be strictly in accordance with the nation’s specified rules and techniques, moving steadily, ensuring no mishaps, taking into account safety factors. [We] must boldly research and innovate, dominate the high points of GMO techniques, and [we] cannot let foreign companies dominate the GMO market.”

As Mr. Xi was making those remarks in December, Chinese authorities were turning away hundreds of thousands of tons of U.S. GMO corn from Chinese ports. The unprecedented volume of rejected cargoes continued into April, eventually totaling about 1.5 million tons according to the Chinese government. China complained the shipments contained a GMO strain not yet permitted for import. U.S. growers said they suspect China was shielding its homegrown croppers from overreliance on the U.S.

China’s imports of corn – much of which are genetically modified strains destined only for animal feed – have remained flat in the first eight months this year from a year ago, according to customs data. Corn imports from the U.S., China’s biggest supplier, are down 36% in the period.

GMO is a key technology dominated by Western giants like Monsanto Co. and Syngenta AG. China’s ballooning demand for food has given these producers and their trading-house allies the prospect of a vast new market that remains largely untapped. Grain imports account for less than 5% of China’s total grain consumption.

But China is equally adamant that it control its own fate in developing GMO technology. It encourages research in GMO grains, and allows imports of GMO crops for animal feed though not for human consumption. Domestic sales of GMO grains aren’t allowed, but the government allows GMO foods in a few other areas, such as fruit.

“What Xi Jinping said doesn’t amount to a policy change, which has been quite consistent since the 1980s, if in fact a little slower now,” said Huang Dafang, senior researcher and professor at the Biotechnology Research Institute, a unit of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences charged with developing the technology. “Other people may take various angles on it because they’ve never heard Xi make such comments before. We have, so it’s not a surprise to us.”

The release of the compendium by the Communist Party was part of a formal documentation of Mr. Xi’s recent speeches, rather than a deliberate policy signal, Mr. Huang said. Chicago corn prices have been unmoved since the disclosure of Mr. Xi’s remarks, ebbing slightly in recent days to $159 a metric ton due to expectations of a robust U.S. harvest, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

If anything, the excerpt emphasized that China needs to strengthen GMO research before moving more aggressively, said Zhang Yan, an analyst with agricultural consultancy Shanghai JC Intelligence Co. “China is pretty weak on GMO scientific technology, so this is just a way to stress an important direction for the government,” Ms. Zhang said.

There is no official poll of public opinion in China, but microblogging platforms and media reports suggest Chinese folks lean toward opposition to GMOs. Reports of GMO rice seeds “accidentally” finding their way from test sites to marketplaces often ignite public complaints. Military strategists have weighed in against GMOs.

In late September, the agriculture ministry said it would step up public education on GMOs, in part to dispel some myths of their effects on human health. A spate of recent discoveries of GMO rice being illegally sold in central China had riled China’s Twitter-like public squares. It’s not the first time the agriculture ministry has tried to strike a peaceable balance. It likely won’t be the last.